Tapanti National Park

Costa Rica has 68 protected conservation areas; certainly some are more visited than others. The most visited National Parks and Wildlife Reserves of Costa Rica are definitely worth visiting as their popularity is well earn, such as Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, Arenal Conservation Area, Tortuguero National Park, Santa Rosa National Park, Irazu Volcano National Park, Poas Volcano National Park, among many others. But there are also a number of National Parks that are not frequently visited by tourist or locals but that don’t lack charm and wonderful features either. Tapanti National Park is one of those parks that offer good natural attractions but are not visited frequently. For starters, this National Park is 90 minutes away from San Jose. Wild and wet is how Tapanti National Park can be described. This Costa Rica Park was created as a reserve in 1982 and turned into a national park in 1992, currently protecting 15057 acres of rainforest slopes of the Talamanca Mountain Range.  With 150 rivers contained inside Tapanti National Park wildlife is lush and prolific. This National Park has two life zones: lower mountain rainforest and premontane rainforest. Birdwatchers and hikers will find this national park perfect if they don’t want to go far from San Jose.

There is approximately 260 bird species recorded in this Costa Rica Park, among which the following can be spotted: three striped warbler, common bush tanager, quetzals, eagles, parrots, toucans. There are also less easily spotted bird floor inhabitants such as tinamous and antbirds in Tapanti National Park. A great variety of hummingbirds can also be seen roaming around the flowering epiphytes (plants that hang on the canopy of the trees). Larger mammals, as in other National Parks, rarely let themselves be seen through the dense rainforests, but with some luck you might be able to see a jaguar, jaguarundi, ocelot, margay, and oncilla cats. Mammals that can be seen more easily at this National Park are monkeys, agoutis, raccoons, and squirrels.

There is a couple of trails that lead to various attractions that this hidden National Park has to offer, such as a swimming hole, and a viewpoint with great views, and a 300 foot waterfall. Fishing is also a relatively popular activity among the few visitors of the Tapanti National Park. Fishing is allowed only from May to June. It is recommended that this park be visited during the early morning as it clouds around midday and pours in the afternoons.